NormanH

Something completely different. I greatly enjoy Madeleine Peyroux who is to jazz what chamber music is to classical She is on tour here in July http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jeeY80n99Q&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTvpCep2QtE&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pl-cVgAU8K8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdK21k4lArQ&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YT9EXNhV-gk&list=AL94UKMTqg-9BEnJzWrA8BC_kZJeBkPM-M&index=10&feature=plcp

We have a modest Music festival over the next few days, with artists from Eastern Europe and a choir from Barcelona as well as our own little orchestra under 'local boy made good' Jean Bernard Pommier who has now come back  home and runs some musical activities Here are a couple of clips one of him as a pianist http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TF8DVLy0C8&feature=relmfu and as conductor http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wdiSd4yTXo&feature=related The programme is here. I was delighted to be able to get out to the first concert last night thanks to my Scooter..  http://www.ville-beziers.fr/culture/fiche.cfm?num=1658&affecter=culture

You really need to get your computer sorted with good speakers. I use mine (with a good sound card and speakers with a bass unit) as a CD player, Home Cinema, and as a direct way of watching such broadcasts.

But you don't need to receive Arte by TV You can see the programme on the Internet, as with iPlayer, except that as you are in France there is no problem of having to go through complicated manoeuvres. You just click on the link I gave to watch. http://videos.arte.tv/fr/videos/jules_cesar_en_egypte-6691418.html  and it will come p on the screen

But you don't need to receive Arte by TV You can see the programme on the Internet, as with iPlayer, except that as you are in France there is no problem of having to go through complicated manoeuvres. You just click on the link I gave to watch.

Inexplicably I missed this, a production of Handel's Julius Caesar from Salzburg with a dream cast. It is still (just) available on Arte7 here: http://videos.arte.tv/fr/videos/jules_cesar_en_egypte-6691418.html

Thanks for that. I watched it last night on iPlayer and learned a lot I didn't know about Delius's life, and heard quite a lot of  music I hadn't heard before. http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01j0yys/Delius_Composer_Lover_Enigma/ I can say I 'enjoyed' it but why oh why do they talk over the music? At one point there was a youngish French chap telling us that in is opinion 'this is the most beautiful moment in Music' . Apart from that being a ridiculous statement I felt like saying "Shut up and let me hear it then"[:@]

I don't mix in the sort of circles where I couldn't [:P]

While listening to Kathleen Ferrier, keep in mind the limerick quoted in the documentary: There was a young lady of Nantes Très chic at si bien élégante; But her hole was so small It was no use at all Except for for la plume de ma tante.

"a very acceptable glass of merlot and Kathleen Ferrier" What could be more sublime? Surely the answer to the article I posted is that people who can't appreciate these things are in fact impoverished. I don't judge them as inferior, but I know that great classical music, poetry, and more recently art films have given me an inner life that has supported me through the vicissitudes of health and fortune that I have experienced over the last 20 years. Sad? perhaps, but true? yes.

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/philip-hensher/philip-hensher-will-nobody-mourn-the-death-of-classical-music-7766906.html

There are a number of lovely clips of her on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_IS6sg_0Nw&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHZhkvu1ojk&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLUyY8m3dPA&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jh_1CKyZVSc&feature=related Those are all great pieces of music, but she could even infuse a spurious potboiler with warmth and feeling: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CF5eKVTzubc&feature=related or a simple folksong http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjvHg9cBriw

Was that TV or Radio? I will try to find it on iPlayer

And DVDs of Opera which have clear subtitles... I have seen some marvellous concerts since I have lived here, since I am within striking range of Montpellier, Toulouse, and have even been to Marseille and Barcelona, but like you allanb as I get less mobile I am tremendously glad of CDs, and even YouTube, which works well for me since I have a reasonable sound system as part of my computer set-up.

Well now I have watched the final and picked the winner[:)] The poor recorder player was badly served by the space which wasn't suited to Baroque Music. Of the ones who didn't make it to the final my great favourite was Martin Bartlett, the last to play in the keyboard final. I loved the wonderfully intense sound and the range of colour, coupled with a great understatement. A musician's musician..

Thanks for reminding me. One of my best friends and ex-colleagues teaches composition and general keyboard skills to the Korean boy who didn't win the keyboard finale. Apparently he has a brilliant keyboard technique (as was obvious) but has no idea of either improvising or harmonising at the keyboard. This is a dichotomy I have observed before. It seems that the hours spent acquiring the ability to play extremely difficult pieces by heart can also lead to a sort of paralysis of the more intuitive side of music making. In a related point I feel that the competition is becoming a contest between a few well-known teachers who supervise their students so closely they are almost puppets.  Fortunately there are a few with enough character to escape their Svengalis..

Thanks...I would have missed it if you hadn't told me

Absolutely delighted to hear it.

He wouldn't manage the kneeling...[:P]

Now the day is near you might like to have a look at the simple  hospital vocabulary I posted a while back: http://services.completefrance.com/forums/completefrance/cs/forums/2650245/ShowPost.aspx Good luck and Bon Courage

You know that it is used as an Epiphany carol? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHaZ8MpECDY&feature=related There they sing in modern French with a (Polish?) accent, but I know it better as De - matin, Ai rescountra lou trin De tres grand Rei qu'anavoun en voiagi ; De - matin, Ai rescountra lou trin De tres grand Rei dessu lou grand camin : There is a discussion as to the original of the tune, sometimes attributed to Lully here http://www.nemausensis.com/Gard/ImageMois/MarcheDesRois/LesRoisMages.htm I have sung and played it, and I love it too [:D]

Is this near you? http://lechoeurvoyageur.fr/files/AfficheBacch-r%C3%A9duit.jpg http://lechoeurvoyageur.fr/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iNHC1c5koQ&feature=related I remember him singing 'ad-hoc' in a Cambridgeshire village pub one evening over 40 years ago when we were both students...

The major thing is to have reached a decision, and to have all that uncertainty behind you. I know several men who have had the surgery and are very happy with the result. I did opt for radiotherapy (because I have other problems which make it better to avoid anaesthetics if possible) and if anybody else goes down that route I can say that with the very modern techniques now available (many small doses from many different angles, and a tightly shaped and precise beam)  most of the problems that used to be associated are now avoided. It does complicate things if surgery in the pelvic area is later required however, and with my luck that is what happened. I couldn't avoid surgery after all...(but not for the prostate, which has been fine) Sorry to hear about the other tumour, but it does show how that once you get into the system they are extremely thorough. I feel that while I could develop another problem, or have a relapse it would be found quickly. There are other people walking around who have no idea of what they have.. As you say, look on the bright side and do as much living as you can. I am sure you will get your holiday even if a bit later than planned.

A French TV programme about William Christie http://www.pluzz.fr/empreintes--2012-03-02-21h30.html